Planctomycetota

Planctomycetes are a group (phylum) of gram-negative bacteria that can be found in marine habitats including oceans, freshwater lakes, wastewater but also terrestrial habitats like soils. Approximately 11% of marine microbial communities is occupied by this phylum. They grow very slowly compared to other bacteria phylum. The majority of Planctomycetota species reproduce by binary fission which is when the bacterium divides into two (or more) and each part regenerates to become a new cell which resembles the original cell; however, they can also reproduce by budding which is when an organism reproduces by forming a ‘bud’, this bud develops into a full organism.
Planctomycetes were only discovered to be a bacterium in 1972 even though they were first discovered back in 1924. They were first wrongly identified as a eukaryote because their cells are unusually structured compared to majority of bacteria cells and looked more similar to eukaryotes.

This phylum is part of the PVC superphylum which is a superphylum that contains and is named after Plantomycetes, Verrucomicrobia and Chlamydiae. The two classes that are part of the Planctomycetota are Planctomycetia and Phycisphaerae.

Planctomycetes have been identified as a potential source for bioactive molecules which are compounds that can possibly encourage great health.

Planctomycetes are heavily involved in producing nitrogen gas with an estimated 30-50% of nitrogen gas in the oceans produced by this phylum. This aids nitrogen production for the nitrogen cycle which is the process of nitrogen transforming into different forms where it is used by many organisms to stay alive.
References

Category:Bacteria